Syracuse University athletics scandal

The Syracuse University athletics scandal involved violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules by the Syracuse University men's basketball and football programs.

Investigation

The NCAA's investigation into violations by Syracuse athletics date back to May 2007, following an initial report by the university to the NCAA, after the university learned that local YMCA employees paid some football and men's basketball student-athletes; Syracuse claims the NCAA’s investigation of Syracuse has taken longer than any other investigation in NCAA history.^[1] On October 27, 2010, Syracuse formally submitted a written report detailing actual and potential NCAA violations to the NCAA, who in turn sent Syracuse a written notice of inquiry on December 2, 2010.^[2]

Initial media reports

Prior to the NCAA's March 2015 infractions report, Syracuse and national media began reporting on potential rules violations by Syracuse athletics.

Yahoo! Sports reported on March 5, 2012, that Syracuse often failed to follow its own internal drug policy.^[3]

On March 20, 2013, CBS Sports and the Syracuse Post-Standard reported that the NCAA was investigating Syracuse in issues that CBS called "both major and wide-ranging in nature".^[4]^[5]

Brett McMurphy of ESPN revealed on October 24, 2014, that Syracuse had a hearing with the NCAA Committee on Infractions in Indianapolis scheduled for the next two days.^[6]

As the NCAA continued its investigation, The Post-Standard continued to reveal new areas of investigation. On November 17, 2014, the newspaper reported that the NCAA was investigating possible improper benefits offered by the YMCA of Oneida, New York to Syracuse student-athletes, including falsified internship hours for credit in the child and family services major.^[7]

Findings

The NCAA found that men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim failed to promote compliance of NCAA rules within his program for nearly a decade.^[8]

Eligibility of Fab Melo

In the summer of 2012, Syracuse learned that men's basketball player Fab Melo (identified in the infractions report as "student-athlete 7") received improper assistance on coursework.^[9]^[10] After Melo was suspended for academic ineligibility in January 2012, Athletic Director Daryl Gross and the Syracuse University Provost office held a meeting with other academics and athletics officials to determine if in fact university and NCAA rules permitted a pathway to reinstate Melo. The Committee on Infractions agreed that the meeting was appropriate and the path proposed at the meeting, was a procedure that “if carried out appropriately by [the student-athlete] would have restored his eligibility within institutional and NCAA requirements”.^[9] Ultimately, it was decided that Melo would be allowed to re-submit a paper from a class taken two semesters prior to raise his grade for eligibility. Melo initially submitted his own work on January 27, 2012, but his professor considered Melo's work "inadequate"; within a few hours, Melo re-submitted his assignment and received sufficient credit to raise his grade in the class from a C+ to a B−.^[11] On January 30, two days before Melo was cleared to play basketball again, the Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences questioned the grade change. The NCAA and university also investigated the circumstances behind Melo regaining eligibility and found that based on file metadata, staffers on the men's basketball team completed Melo's assignment.^[9]^[12]

Oneida YMCA

The NCAA found that the YMCA of Oneida, New York provided improper benefits to student-athletes and coaches. Jeff Cornish, the youth sports coordinator at the Oneida YMCA from 1996 to 2006, used a checking account to pay over $8,000 to three football and two basketball student-athletes in 14 months. Also, Oneida YMCA CEO Hank Leo hired three football players as interns for academic credit but falsified certifications that the student-athletes met their service requirements for said credit.^[13] The improper benefits were not restricted to student-athletes: The NCAA found that the YMCA gave an assistant coach a free gym membership, paid two trainers to volunteer at basketball clinics, and subsidized the rental payment for an administrative assistant.^[13]

Penalties

Prior to the NCAA's final infractions report, Syracuse self-imposed a one-year postseason ban on February 4, 2015.^[14]

In March 2015, the NCAA released its infractions report which found that Syracuse had possibly violated rules. As a result, 101 wins were vacated by the NCAA from 2004–05, 2006–07 and from 2010–11, 2011-12 seasons. However, the NCAA confirmed that sanctions did not include the removal of any trophies or banners.

As a result, Syracuse can keep the banner for its 2012 team's run to the NCAA Elite 8 and 2011 advancement to the third round of the NCAA tournament. Also, a Big East Conference official confirmed that the conference's updated media guide continues to list Syracuse as its 2005 and 2006 tournament champion.^[15]

This reduced the number of Boeheim's career wins at the time from 966 to 858 and dropped Boeheim from second to sixth in all-time wins.^[16] Previous to the NCAA decision, Syracuse voluntarily vacated 24 men's basketball wins: 15 from the 2004–05 season and 9 from the 2011–12 season.^[1]

Following an appeal by Syracuse University, the NCAA reduced its scholarship reduction for Syracuse over the seasons from 2015–16 to 2018–19 from 12 to 8.^[17]

Syracuse voluntarily vacated all 11 wins from the 2004 to 2006 football seasons, and the NCAA placed Syracuse football on probation until 2020.^[18]

References

General

Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, NCAA, March 6, 2015

Specific

^ ^a ^b "Syracuse University Responds to NCAA Committee on Infractions Report". Syracuse University. March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
^ Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, p. 70.
^ Robinson, Charles; Forde, Pat (March 5, 2012). "Sources: Syracuse basketball program repeatedly violated internal drug policy". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
^ Dodd, Dennis (March 20, 2013). "Syracuse hoops under investigation". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
^ O'Brien, John; Mink, Nate; Carlson, Chris; Waters, Mike (March 20, 2013). "Sources: Syracuse basketball program under wide-ranging NCAA investigation". Post-Standard. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
^ McMurphy, Brett (October 24, 2014). "SU basketball, football focus of NCAA". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
^ Carlson, Chris; Mink, Nate; and O'Brien, John (November 17, 2014). "NCAA investigation: Internship hours, ties between YMCA and Syracuse athletes part of inquiry". The Post-Standard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ O'Brien, John (March 6, 2015). "Summary: What did Syracuse do wrong? NCAA cites acade. mic fraud, extra benefits, drug policy". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Carlson, Chris (March 7, 2015). "Syracuse basketball NCAA investigation: How far did the school go to keep Fab Melo eligible?". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
^ Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, p. 18.
^ Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, pp. 25-26.
^ Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, p. 26.
^ ^a ^b Schonbrun, Zach (March 10, 2015). "Activities at Y.M.C.A.: Laps, Yoga and Helping Syracuse Cheat". New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
^ O'Brien, John (February 4, 2015). "Syracuse basketball self-imposes postseason ban this year in NCAA investigation". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
^ syracuse.com (October 19, 2016). "Syracuse basketball can't keep wins, but it can keep Big East, NCAA banners". syracuse.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
^ Carlson, Chris (March 6, 2015). "NCAA investigation costs Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim 108 wins, drops him to 6th all-time". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
^ "NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee decreases Syracuse University scholarship penalty". NCAA. November 25, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ Mink, Nate (March 6, 2015). "NCAA report: Syracuse football placed on 5-year probation, self-vacates 11 wins". Syracuse Post-Standard. Archived from the original on March 9, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2021.

[Syracuse_responds-1] "Syracuse University Responds to NCAA Committee on Infractions Report". Syracuse University. March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2015.

[infractions_p70-2] Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, p. 70.

[3] Robinson, Charles; Forde, Pat (March 5, 2012). "Sources: Syracuse basketball program repeatedly violated internal drug policy". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2017.

[CBS_investigation-4] Dodd, Dennis (March 20, 2013). "Syracuse hoops under investigation". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2021.

[5] O'Brien, John; Mink, Nate; Carlson, Chris; Waters, Mike (March 20, 2013). "Sources: Syracuse basketball program under wide-ranging NCAA investigation". Post-Standard. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2021.

[SU_basketball,_football_focus_of_NCAA-6] McMurphy, Brett (October 24, 2014). "SU basketball, football focus of NCAA". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2021.

[Post-Standard_YMCA_November_2014-7] Carlson, Chris; Mink, Nate; and O'Brien, John (November 17, 2014). "NCAA investigation: Internship hours, ties between YMCA and Syracuse athletes part of inquiry". The Post-Standard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[What_did_Syracuse_do_wrong-8] O'Brien, John (March 6, 2015). "Summary: What did Syracuse do wrong? NCAA cites acade. mic fraud, extra benefits, drug policy". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.

[keep_Fab_Melo_eligible-9] Carlson, Chris (March 7, 2015). "Syracuse basketball NCAA investigation: How far did the school go to keep Fab Melo eligible?". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.

[10] Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, p. 18.

[11] Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, pp. 25-26.

[12] Syracuse University Public Infractions Decision, p. 26.

[NYT_Oneida_YMCA-13] Schonbrun, Zach (March 10, 2015). "Activities at Y.M.C.A.: Laps, Yoga and Helping Syracuse Cheat". New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2015.

[14] O'Brien, John (February 4, 2015). "Syracuse basketball self-imposes postseason ban this year in NCAA investigation". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.

[15] syracuse.com (October 19, 2016). "Syracuse basketball can't keep wins, but it can keep Big East, NCAA banners". syracuse.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.

[108_wins-16] Carlson, Chris (March 6, 2015). "NCAA investigation costs Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim 108 wins, drops him to 6th all-time". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2015.

[17] "NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee decreases Syracuse University scholarship penalty". NCAA. November 25, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2016.

[18] Mink, Nate (March 6, 2015). "NCAA report: Syracuse football placed on 5-year probation, self-vacates 11 wins". Syracuse Post-Standard. Archived from the original on March 9, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2021.

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v t e Syracuse Orange football
Venues	Star Park (1889–1894) Old Oval (1895–1906) Archbold Stadium (1907–1978) Giants Stadium (1979) Rich Stadium (1979) Schoellkopf Field (1979) JMA Wireless Dome (1980–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Colgate Penn State Pittsburgh UConn West Virginia
Culture & lore	Otto the Orange Alma Mater "Down the Field" Marching band The Express: The Ernie Davis Story Scandal Syracuse Sports Network Highest-scoring game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders All-Century Team
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Syracuse Orange men's basketball
Venues	Archbold Gymnasium (1908–1947; 1952–1955) State Fair Coliseum (1947–1951) Onondaga County War Memorial (1951–1952; 1955–1962) Manley Field House (1962–1980) JMA Wireless Dome (1980–present) Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center (practice)
Rivalries	UConn
Culture & lore	"McNamara's Band" Otto the Orange Scandal 6-overtime game Syracuse Sports Network
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics